Jin, the oldest member of the South Korean band BTS, entered a training center of the Army today, which marks the start of his mandatory military service while dozens of fans and the media gathered at the entrance of the compound to catch the moment and say goodbye.
However, Jin’s entrance into the military center located in Yeocheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul, was devoid of any emotion or farewell gesture.
Both the artist and the agency that represents the band had strongly asked BTS fans not to come to fire their idol.
In fact, given the possibility of dangerous crowds (a particularly sensitive issue in South Korea after the tragic human avalanche that occurred in Seoul on Halloween), 300 members of emergency teams were deployed at the entrance to the barracks.
In any case, what a few dozen followers of the artist and a multitude of media cameras were finally able to see was only a convoy of six black vans with tinted windows -practically all cars in the Asian country use darkened windows- accessing to the military base.
It is believed that the rest of the BTS members could have also been on board the vehicles that Hybe arranged to say goodbye to his partner.
The last image of Jin, 30 years old and whose real name is Kim Seok-jin, with which the fans remain for the moment is the selfie that he published two days ago on the Weverse social network wearing a military cut on which he said that It fits “better than expected”.
The singer chose to carry out military service – compulsory in South Korea for all able-bodied men – in a border unit, considered the first line of combat since the two Koreas have technically been at war for more than seven decades.
At the center he entered today, he will receive basic training for five weeks before being assigned to a unit in the area, where patrols and other daily activities are considered tougher than in barracks far from the border.
Having opted for the Army, where the benefit is two and three months shorter compared to the Navy and the Air Force, Jin is expected to complete his military service around June 2024.
After years of uncertainty about the future of the band due to military service and after a legislative reform allowed the deadline for BTS members and other K-Pop artists to enlist by two years -until they turned 30-, the group announced in the summer that it would take a break until at least 2025 and that until then all its members would take the opportunity to fulfill their military service.
Jin will be followed by Suga -his 30th birthday is on March 9-, who is believed to perform a substitute social service instead of military service, according to military and music industry sources, due to the serious tear he suffered in the left shoulder and the one that had to be operated on in 2020.